Re: Frost 8/80 (was age old thread: Re: \"Straight\" vs. \"Bonded\"

I have a article about Heaven Hill trying a new venture...lots of rumors have circulated with this story. It was a attempt for a "light" bourbon...

I will try to find it and post it here for you.

Awesome! I'd be interested to see if it's "light" meaning clear vs. "light" meaning lighter-tasting. I wish I could have tried this Frost stuff...I suppose it'd only be a step or two above corn whiskey!?

Re: Frost 8/80 (was age old thread: Re: \"Straight\" vs. \"Bonded\"

Is the date on that article 1963 or 1968? It's hard to tell.

Yes, "Light Whiskey" was a bit of a fiasco. If it had caught on at all, it would have faced another more subtle problem, which is the fact that "light" was coming to mean reduced calorie, which this product was not. It was lighter in color, body and taste, but contained a full portion of alcohol and, therefore, calories.

The worst part about light whiskey was that it wasn't a product that could be made with exisiting equipment. It required a fairly expensive capital investment. I would bet that when the HH distillery burned down, that equipment was still sitting there unusued.

Mark Brown of Buffalo Trace told me a story about touring the place one day with Elmer Lee. They came across what appeared to be an unusued column still. Mark asked about it and Elmer replied, with barely concealed contempt, that it was the still for making light whiskey. Mark, being the good businessman, asked if it could be used for anything else. Elmer replied, again with barely concealed contempt, "I guess you could make vodka with it."